9 Very Fine DIY Halloween Costumes

A great DIY Halloween costume doesn't have to be culturally clever or straight out of this year's top movies; in fact, we prefer ones that are a feat of creative ingenuity. These costumes accomplish this, with homegrown CAD designs, fiber optics and LEDs. Here are the Top 8 high-tech do-it-yourself costumes we've ever seen. Can you raise the bar?

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

1Astronaut Helmet

Lara Sorokanich

The hardest part of any astronaut costume is finding a good helmet. Plastic costume helmets look cheap, quality models are expensive, and those weird fabric versions just look ridiculous. Save your dollars and dignity, and DIY your own space helmet with items from your local craft store.

Create the base of your helmet by hot-gluing the two Styrofoam wreath rings together. Then attach the half-ball to the ring at an angle, leaving a substantial opening for your face. To reinforce the top of the helmet, cut two wedges from the scrap Styrofoam and place them between the half-ball and the base rings, and secure with glue. This will also help force the top of the helmet open a bit more. To create a more polished helmet, attach silver fabric to the inside, as well as over the scrap wedges. Complete by attaching decorative patches of your choice.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

2Game of Thrones Dragon Head

Lara Sorokanich

A few years ago, a good friend of mine asked to do a matching Game of Thrones Halloween costume. Like every young woman who watches GoT, she wanted to be the beautiful, ethereal, blonde-haired Daenerys. Surveying what female characters were left… I opted to be a dragon instead. Here's how I DIYed a dragon head, the centerpiece of my costume.

Miscellaneous decorations from the fake flower aisle of the craft store

The inspiration for my dragon head was Drogon, the black, spikey member of Daenerys's trio. The base for my hat was a latex T-rex mask I bought at a local Halloween shop, which I spray painted with a thin coating of black.

Rather than wearing the mask over my head all night, I opted to turn it into a hat. This hack works great with any over-the-head latex animal mask, especially for children who might be hot and uncomfortable wearing a mask all night. To create a hat out of any mask, simply push a hollow Styrofoam half-sphere (available in the fake flower section of most craft stores) into the head of the mask to create a solid form. Then fold the neck of the mask inwards, and hot glue the edges to the inside of the hollow dome. Just be sure to try the hat on before gluing it.

To finish off the dragon hat, I added a few decorations from the fake flower section of the craft store. I made two horns on the dragon head out of two plastic jalapeños I spray painted black and attached upside down to the head. Then I added a few fronds of a fake plants in red and black to create spikes.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

3How to Make a Lightsaber

No Star Wars costume is complete without a lightsaber. Bob Clagett from I Like to Make Stuff has built plenty of costumes, but this lightsaber is one of his most popular.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

4Deep Sea Diving Helmet

This old school diving helmet is a stark reminder of how far we've come in undersea exploration. Make this diving helmet and you may win the best steampunk competition.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

5Mini Ghostbusters Proton Pack

This DIY miniature Proton Pack is based on the newest Ghostbusters movie gear. The parents, outfitted their 5 year old daughter for Halloween in this classic costume. The pack lights up and the blaster dismounts in case your little comes across Slimer while trick or treating.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

6Jellyfish Costume

This jellyfish costume is best seen at night or in the dark, but its tentacles will grab the eyes of onlookers anytime during Halloween. The costumer took an ordinary washing up bowl, stuck a cheap sports helmet inside for wearability, and used a glue gun to attach 22 kids LED light up necklaces. Having spent about eight hours over two days on the futuristic sea creature, the costumer writes on his blog: "It was definitely the most fun I've ever had building anything... if I could somehow do this all the time for a living, I would."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

7Cyborg Costume

When planning this year's Halloween costume, remember this axiom: One geek's junk is another's best costume ever. First, disassemble printers, CPUs, speakers, screens, scanners and just about any gizmo to do with a desktop you can find. Then weld, glue and screw the parts together as armor and weaponry for your big, bad cyborg costume.

Diehard Halo fans know that being all that you can be pretty much means you've got to be a cybernetically-enhanced super soldier. Or more simply put: The Master Chief. This soldier is seen posing at a recent Dragon Con parade. If you can scrap together spare parts to make a gun like this guy's, you may truly become the Halo master.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

9Mask Voice Modulator

Adding a voice modulator to your costume is a game-changer. Not only is your identity hidden with the mask, but your voice is disguised, so no one will know it's you. A voice modulator is also just plain fun to mess with, so add one from Punished Props to your next DIY costume and enjoy.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.